There was a single rail between the top three teams heading into CCIJ1* show jumping today here at the Adequan/FEI North American Youth Championships. Podium real estate was at a premium and up for grabs, but it was Area V that came up from behind to claim the top spot.

One by one, each of Area V’s three riders — McKinsey Wickman with Dassett Profile, Georgia Dillard with Galileo Wp, Georgia Phillips with Menue Rendevous — cantered into the ring and turned in a clear round inside the time. Other teams’ rails proved costly, and by the end of the division Area V had risen from bronze medal position to gold.

The team’s anchor rider was McKinsey, who was the overnight leader heading in. That position comes with a lot of pressure, but Area V coach Will Faudree had some words of advice for her heading into the ring: “He told me to put those thoughts that all of us as riders have into a bubble and let them float away.”

If McKinsey was nervous, she didn’t let it show, delivering a smooth double-clear round on her rangy bay 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding to clinch individual and team gold. “I’m over the moon ecstatic with my horse,” she says. “All weekend he’s been a star.”

Will had nothing but praise for his team’s composure in a pressure-filled situation: “They all three just rode super today. To see these girls go in and ride exactly how we walked it at their age is really exciting.”

If anyone was struggling with nerves, Will admits, it was himself. “I basically jumped three show jumping rounds myself today!,” he laughs.

They discussed their rounds and the NAYC team experience in the post-show jumping press conference: